Jim Holt

When you decide which agent you're going to sell with, you'll sign an agreement with them (every home seller does). This is known as a "listing agreement” and it's exclusive to you and your agent. The length of this agreement is usually for ~6 months but is negotiable.

The listing agreement does not include an option to cancel, which makes it extremely difficult to fire your agent and hire another one. This means that as long as your house sells, your agent gets paid, whether you're pleased with their services or not.

To "guarantee" themselves a commission, many agents will say whatever is necessary to get the agreement signed. A couple of common tactics include:

• Intentionally telling you they can sell your house for an unrealistic price
• Overpromising on their availability and communication

Not being locked into the listing agreement is key to becoming a top priority for your agent. It ensures they are just as motivated as you are to sell fast and for top dollar because they know that they can lose your business at any time.

Part of our vetting process is making sure that we only partner with the best agents who are fully committed to making their clients a top priority. We make it a requirement that they allow you to cancel the agreement at any time, no questions asked. This is spelled out in the agreement that they sign with us.

This means that when you sell with a SoldNest agent, you are getting a trusted expert who is committed to making you and your sale a top priority. 100% guaranteed!

A home seller pays a commission to their agent as well as the buyer’s agent. If the seller’s agent also represents the buyer, they get both commissions. Unfortunately, there are numerous tactics that are used by agents to help them increase their chances of doing this, without their clients ever knowing.

In many cases, this hurts the seller because their agent is no longer allowed to negotiate for them. The agent must remain neutral to the buyer and seller, which often results in a better deal for the buyer (and more commission for the agent).

While there are certain situations where it can make sense for an agent to represent both parties, an above-average percentage of these transactions shows that an agent prioritizes their commission over a seller’s best interests.

The sold to list price ratio is the agent’s average sale price divided by their average list price. For example, if an agent has an average sale price of $1,100,000 and an average list price of $1,000,000, then their sold to list price ratio would be 110%.

While a higher number might seem better, that’s not always the case. This is because some agents will intentionally underprice the homes they sell for their benefit. They do this so that after they make a sale, they can market the sold listing in the neighborhood that says something like, “Just sold for $XXX,XXX over the list price!”

Similar to how an overpriced listing can hurt the seller, a property that is underpriced can also work against the seller because some buyers won’t pay a certain amount or percentage over the “asking” price, no matter how low it’s priced.

An agent with recent selling experience is likely to be well-informed on current market trends in your area, which is vital because the real estate market can change rapidly. Understanding these trends affects important decisions, like setting your home’s listing price and the final sale price. In other words, an agent who has been actively selling homes is better positioned to secure the best possible outcome for you.

Part of our vetting process includes analyzing online reviews of the agents who apply to join our network. Although we do consider their overall rating, we put a higher priority on the verbiage that seller clients use when describing their experience.

The number of reviews displayed is the total number we’ve analyzed from all of the big review sites – and the rating is the average star rating from those same sites.

In addition to collecting feedback from sellers who we refer to agents in our network, we continuously analyze their reviews from other sites to ensure they maintain our minimum requirements.